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Alberto El Patrón
| birth_place = San Luis Potosi, Mexico | death_date = | death_place = | resides = Miami, Florida | billed = San Luis Potosi, Mexico | trainer = Dos Caras | debut = September 29, 2000 | retired = }} Alberto Rodríguez (May 25, 1977) is a Mexican professional wrestler signed to WWE, performing under the ring name Alberto Del Rio and appearing on the SmackDown brand. He is a former two-time WWE Champion, while also being the 2011 Royal Rumble winner, outlasting 39 other participants to win the largest Royal Rumble match ever, and [[Money in the Bank ladder match#2011|2011 Mr. Money in the Bank (Raw)]]. Before working for WWE, Rodriguez used the name Dos Caras, Jr. as both a mixed martial artist and luchador in mostly Mexico and Japan. He worked in both of Mexico's main wrestling promotions and achieved success in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), where he is a former CMLL World Heavyweight Champion. Son of noted luchador Dos Caras, nephew of Mil Máscaras and Sicodelico, and cousin to Sicodelico, Jr. and Hijo de Sicodelico, Rodríguez is part of one of the most well known Mexican wrestling families. The name Dos Caras translates to Two Faces, referring to the symbol of a double headed eagle on his mask. Amateur wrestling Born in San Luis Potosí, as the son of luchador Dos Caras. Rodríguez graduated from Universidad Autonoma de San Luis Potosí where he earned a degree in architecture. Growing up in a family of wrestlers Rodríguez decided to take up Greco-Roman wrestling, training under Leonel Kolesni and Juan Fernández. He earned a place on the Mexican national team in Greco-Roman wrestling and while competing on the national team obtained several accomplishments. In 1997, he placed third at the World Junior Championships, in the Czech Republic. He also won the Central American and Caribbean Games in his weight division three times and won a medal at the Pan American Games. Rodríguez was on track to compete at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, but due to a lack of funding and support, Mexico did not send a wrestling team that year. Professional wrestling career Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (2000–2002) After not competing at the 2000 Olympic games Rodriguez turned to the family business, and trained with his father to become a professional wrestler. Junior made his debut appearance on May 9, 2000 as he ran in during an Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) show to save his father from a beat down from El Texano, Pirata Morgan and Espectro, Jr. After making follow up TV show appearances Caras did not make his in ring debut until September 16 of that year when he teamed with Sangre Chicana, El Alebrije and La Parka, Jr. to defeat Los Consagrados (El Texano, Pirata Morgan, Espectro, Jr. and El Cobarde) at AAA's summer event Verano de Escandalo. After his debut Rodriguez would travel to Japan to compete as well, making his Japanese debut on October 11 by teaming with his father to defeat the team of El Azteca and Chiba. Junior continued his AAA storyline with Los Consagrados, teaming with Octagón, La Parka, Jr. and Hong Kong Lee to defeat Los Consagrados by disqualification. Over the next couple of years Caras would work both in Mexico and Japan to gain experience in the ring. In Mexico he worked exclusively for AAA making appearances at shows such as the 2002 Verano de Escandalo, where he teamed with Gronda and El Hijo del Solitario to defeat the trio of Pirata Morgan, Sangre Chicana and El Brazo. Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Técnico (2005–2009) In 2005, Rodriguez was signed to a contract with Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). In his first test in the company, Caras competed in the 2005 La Copa Junior, but the storyline of the tournament saw him defeated in the semi-final by Dr. Wagner, Jr. Junior's advancement to the semi-final of the cup, mere months after signing with the company was an indicator that the bookers were interested in elevating him up the rankings, this was further supported when he received matches for both the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship and the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship inside a three week period. The following year on March 31, 2006 Caras was entered again into the La Copa Junior tournament and earned a return victory over Dr. Wager, Jr. who knocked him out of the tournament the previous year. He also won against Heavy Metal and Apolo Dantes to gain a place in the final, defeating Héctor Garza to win the prize. While working in Japan, Caras had taken to teaming with another second generation wrestler, Lizmark, Jr., and when both found themselves in CMLL they were teamed up once again with the team's famous fathers being the selling point. Over the next year Caras found himself without much direction, he worked storylines with Último Guerrero and Kenzo Suzuki but nothing long term came of it. Caras received two opportunities to challenge Universo 2000 for the CMLL World Heavyweight title but came up short until his third attempt on July 8, 2007 when he became the CMLL World Heavyweight Champion. While in wrestling promotions outside of Mexico the Heavyweight title would indicate that he was the top man in the federation, Mexican wrestling promotions tend to put more emphasis on the lower weight divisions over the heavyweights. Caras's run with the CMLL World Heavyweight championship remained largely uneventful with only four title defenses in the 533 days that he held the championship. After defending against Lizmark, Jr. and former champion Universo 2000 it would be 9 months before his next defense. By the fall of 2008 a story broke that Rodriguez had wrestled a dark match for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and that they had offered him a contract. Over the following months conflicting reports of whether he had signed or not arose but he remained CMLL World Heavyweight Champion. When Caras lost the title to Último Guerrero it was believed that he had indeed signed with WWE, with him being rumored to be a surprise participant in the 2009 Royal Rumble. However, Rodriguez remained with CMLL and stated that he signed a four year deal and chose CMLL because they offered him a better deal than WWE. Rudo (2009) Through out his entire career Dos Caras, Jr. had always played a heroic character, known in Mexico as a técnico. However, after the contract dealings with WWE surfaced he began showing signs of becoming a villain, known as a rudo. He would turn his attention away from the matches and instead try to win the approval of the fans, often costing his team the match because he was distracted. Caras himself explained this behavior by stating that he "hurt his shoulder, but bravely stayed in the arena". After hinting at a change for weeks Caras finally cemented his villainous persona on April 11, 2009, the first member of the Rodríguez family to be a heel. After becoming a rudo, he began working a storyline with José Luis Jair Soria. World Wrestling Entertainment Florida Championship Wrestling (2009–2010) On June 17, 2009, Rodriguez confirmed that he had signed a three-year contract with WWE, stating that he would not have to go to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), WWE's developmental territory, but would go directly to the main roster. Furthermore, he would retain the rights to his name, mask and image but allow the WWE to use it for promotional purposes while he is under contract with them. He agreed to the contract since it addressed the main reasons why he turned down the WWE's offer in January 2009. Despite his claims, he had a match with Kris Logan at FCW wrestling under the name Dos. He later also went on to wrestle under the ring names Dorado and El Dorado. During a segment on the Abraham Washington show at the August 6 taping, Rodriguez revealed a new, unmasked wrestling character named Alberto Banderas . During Raw's WrestleMania Revenge tour of Europe in April 2010, Caras made numerous appearances in untelevised matches for the Raw brand. One night he wrestled as Dos Caras, but he did not wear his mask. He was presented as a villain in a losing effort against Christian. The following month Caras put his mask back on for WWE's tour of Mexico and worked as a hometown hero, prior to returning unmasked during untelevised matches for subsequent Raw and SmackDown shows. SmackDown and feud with Rey Mysterio (2010) On the June 25, 2010 episode of SmackDown, Rodriguez debuted on a pre-taped promotional video as the unmasked Alberto Del Rio. Thereafter, a vignette aired every week on SmackDown promoting his character as an arrogant rich Mexican aristocrat, espousing his own virtues of honesty, integrity and mental faculties. After two months, he debuted on the August 20 edition of SmackDown where he debuted by defeating fellow luchadore Rey Mysterio in the main event using his new cross armbar submission. His ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez debuted at the same time as Del Rio. The following week, Del Rio continued the storyline with Mysterio by attacking him after his match with Kane, giving him a storyline injury by refusing to relinquish his armbar. Two weeks later he defeated Matt Hardy via submission in Hardy's last appearance with the company, causing Hardy's friend Christian to challenge Del Rio to a match at Night of Champions. Although he declined the match, on the September 24 edition of SmackDown Del Rio attacked Christian and injured him the same way he did Mysterio the previous month, marking the third successive wrestler Del Rio was scripted to injure. This was done to write Christian off television, as he had suffered a torn pectoral muscle. Mysterio returned on the October 8 SmackDown episode and handed Del Rio his first defeat in the main event match. In October Del Rio defeated Chris Masters to represent the SmackDown brand at Bragging Rights, but during the pay-per-view event he attacked teammate Rey Mysterio, before being eliminated from the match by Team Raw's CM Punk. The next week on SmackDown, Del Rio was involved in a triple threat match to determine a new number one contender to the World Heavyweight Champion Kane, but was defeated by Edge in a match, also involving Rey Mysterio. At Survivor Series Del Rio captained a team consisting of himself, Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre, Jack Swagger and Tyler Reks against a team captained by Rey Mysterio, consisting of Mysterio himself, Big Show, Chris Masters, Kofi Kingston and MVP. Del Rio was eliminated from the match by Big Show, who went on to win the match along with Mysterio. On the November 26 edition of SmackDown, Del Rio defeated Big Show via countout to qualify for the 2010 King of the Ring tournament. Del Rio would beat Daniel Bryan in the first round by submission, but would be defeated by John Morrison in the semifinals after being distracted by Rey Mysterio. On the November 30 episode of WWE NXT, it was announced that Del Rio would be a mentor to Conor O'Brian on the fourth season of NXT, starting the following week. On December 19 at TLC:Tables, Ladders & Chairs, Del Rio competed in a Fatal-4-Way Tables, Ladders and Chairs match for the World Heavyweight Championship, which was won by Edge and also included the then champion Kane and Rey Mysterio. On the January 7, 2011, edition of SmackDown, Del Rio defeated Mysterio in a Two Out of Three Falls match, with help from Ricardo Rodriguez to end his long feud with Mysterio. On January 18 Del Rio's NXT rookie Conor O'Brian became the second contestant eliminated from the competition. The following week the rookies competed in a fatal four way match in which the winner would be able to change their pro. Brodus Clay won the match and chose Del Rio as his new pro. NXT season 3 (2010-2011) Alberto Del Rio became the mentor for Conor O'Brian in the third season of NXT. Ricardo Rodriguez was jealous of Conor's relationship and challenged him to a match which Ricardo lost. Conor was eventually eliminated, and came back for NXT Redemption under the mentorship of Vladimir Kozlov. Alberto liked the other pros of eliminated Rookies, stayed on during the show for purposes of voting. Later, Brodus Clay won a competition to choose one's pro, and he dumped his pro Ted DiBiase Jr. in favour of having Alberto Del Rio as his pro. While Brodus ultimately did not win the competition (it was won by R Truth's rookie, though the two have yet to go on to challenge for the tag team titles), he began accompanying Rio as his bodyguard. Rumble, Mania and pursuit of Heavyweight title (2011) On January 30, 2011, Del Rio defeated 39 other participants to win the 2011 Royal Rumble and earned the right to compete for either the World Heavyweight Championship or the WWE Championship at WrestleMania XXVII by last eliminating Santino Marella. The following night on Raw, Del Rio chose to compete for the World Heavyweight Championship, which, at the time of his choosing, was held by Edge. Having retained his title during Hell in a Cell 2011, Edge was ambushed by Rio after his victory pinning Rey Mysterio. Rio was about to break Edge's arm when Christian returned and rescued him. Rio soon had Brodus accompany him, and used the giant to gang up intermittantly on Edge and Christian, causing the two to reunite as Edge & Christian once more. Christian went on to defeat Rio twice in a row, once by escaping from a cage and second time by pinfall. Edge went on to succcessfully defend his championship against Alberto Del Rio. During the process he destroyed Rio's car. Desiring another shot at the title, Rio challenged Edge to another title match. Edge declared that Christian deserved it more. Teddy Long made a #1 Contender's match, and that the Extreme Rules 2011 stipulation would be a ladder match. Rio won the contendership due to Christian being distracted by Brodus. Edge announced the following Raw that he would be retiring and not wrestling anymore. As such, it seems the Heavyweight title will be vacated, and it is likely that Alberto Del Rio would have to battle an additional contender (perhaps Christian) to win it at Extreme Rules. Raw and WWE Champion (2011) On the April 25, 2011, episode of Raw, Del Rio was drafted from SmackDown to Raw. Ricardo Rodriguez moved to Raw with him, while Brodus Clay remained on SmackDown. On May 1 at Extreme Rules, Christian defeated Del Rio in a ladder match to win the vacant World Heavyweight Championship. On the May 23 episode of Raw, Del Rio slapped the Big Show after he had gotten into a confrontation with Ricardo Rodriguez. After competing in a match, Show was run over by Del Rio's car, being driven by Rodriguez, leaving him sidelined with a storyline knee injury. Big Show made his return three weeks later, chasing Del Rio out of the ring and beating Rodriguez down. On June 19 at Capitol Punishment, Del Rio defeated Big Show via referee stoppage, when Show was unable to continue the match as a result of a pre-match assault by Mark Henry. On the June 27 episode of Raw, Del Rio defeated Big Show in a steel cage match, again with help from Mark Henry. On July 17 at Money in the Bank, Del Rio defeated Alex Riley, Evan Bourne, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston, The Miz, R-Truth and Rey Mysterio in a Money in the Bank ladder match to earn the right to challenge for the WWE Championship whenever and wherever he wanted, while also becoming the first wrestler in history to win a Royal Rumble and a Money in the Bank match in the same year. Following the orders of Vince McMahon, Del Rio attempted to cash in his contract later that same night on CM Punk, who had just defeated John Cena for the WWE Championship, but was attacked and laid out by him before he could do so. Del Rio eventually cashed in his contract on August 14 at SummerSlam, challenging CM Punk after the main event, where he had defeated John Cena to become the undisputed WWE Champion. Between the two matches, Punk was attacked by Kevin Nash, which led to Del Rio scoring a quick pinfall victory to win the WWE Championship for the first time. In winning the title, Del Rio became the first ever Mexican-born WWE Champion. On September 18 at Night of Champions, Del Rio lost the WWE Championship to John Cena. Del Rio regained the title on October 2 at Hell in a Cell by defeating Cena and CM Punk in a Hell in a Cell match. On October 23 at Vengeance, Del Rio successfully defended the WWE Championship against John Cena in a Last Man Standing Match, following interference from The Miz and R-Truth. On November 20 at Survivor Series, Del Rio lost the WWE Championship to CM Punk. Del Rio received a rematch for the WWE Championship on the November 28 episode of Raw, but was defeated after CM Punk dropped him onto an exposed turnbuckle, managing to avoid a disqualification, which would have cost him the title, in the process. On December 18 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, Del Rio failed again to recapture the WWE Championship from CM Punk in a Triple Threat Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match, also involving The Miz. The following night on Raw, Del Rio suffered a torn groin muscle, which would require surgery and sideline him for four to six weeks. World Heavyweight Championship pursuit and Face Turn (2012–present) Del Rio made his return at a WWE house show in San Francisco on February 11, 2012, arm wrestling Sheamus to a no contest. On February 19 at Elimination Chamber, Del Rio made an appearance to show support to Raw General Manager John Laurinaitis. Del Rio returned on the April 2 episode of Raw, confronting World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus and vowing to become the next champion. On the following episode of SmackDown, Del Rio defeated Sheamus via disqualification in a non-title match to earn a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship. On the April 20 episode of SmackDown, it was announced that Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez had been officially traded from Raw to SmackDown. On May 20 at Over the Limit, Del Rio failed to capture the World Heavyweight Championship from Sheamus in a Fatal Four-Way match, also involving Chris Jericho and Randy Orton. On the following episode of SmackDown, Del Rio defeated Kane and Randy Orton in a Triple Threat match to become the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship. At the June 5 tapings of SmackDown, Del Rio suffered a legitimate concussion, which led to WWE pulling him from his scheduled World Heavyweight Championship match against Sheamus at No Way Out. Del Rio returned on the June 18 episode of Raw, defeating United States Champion Santino Marella in a non-title match. The following week on Raw, Del Rio wrestled Dolph Ziggler to a no contest in a Contract on a Pole match for a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship. As a result, both Del Rio and Ziggler were entered into the championship match four days later on SmackDown, where Sheamus retained the title after pinning Ziggler. Del Rio received another shot at the World Heavyweight Championship on July 15 at Money in the Bank, where he was again defeated by Sheamus. The following night on Raw, Del Rio was looking to take out his frustrations on Zack Ryder, but his post-match assault was interrupted by his longtime rival Rey Mysterio making his return and attacking him. Four days later on SmackDown, Del Rio and Dolph Ziggler were defeated by Mysterio and Sheamus via disqualification, following interference from Rodriguez. After the match, Del Rio viciously attacked Sheamus. On the July 27 episode of SmackDown, Del Rio defeated Daniel Bryan, Kane, and Rey Mysterio in a four-way match to again become number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship. The title match, originally announced for SummerSlam, was moved to the August 10 episode of SmackDown, after Del Rio threatened to press charges against Sheamus for stealing his car on the previous episode of Raw, which would have prevented Sheamus from appearing at the pay-per-view. However, before the match got started, Del Rio attacked Sheamus along with men posing as police officers, which led to SmackDown General Manager Booker T taking away his number one contender's status as a result. However, the following week, Sheamus had the title match put back on for SummerSlam. At the pay-per-view on August 19, Del Rio again failed in attempt to dethrone Sheamus after the referee failed to notice Del Rio's foot on the bottom rope. On the following episode of SmackDown, Del Rio defeated Randy Orton via submission to once again become number contender to the World Heavyweight Championship. On the September 7 episode of SmackDown, Del Rio filed assault charges against Sheamus, after Sheamus had attacked him and Rodriguez on the previous Raw, which led to Booker T banning the Brogue Kick with the caveat that Sheamus would be stripped of the World Heavyweight Championship if he used the move again. However, on September 16 at Night of Champions, Booker T announced that he had concluded his investigation into the dangers of the move and uplifted the ban. In the match that followed, Sheamus used the Brogue Kick to defeat Del Rio and retain the World Heavyweight Championship. With his rivalry with Sheamus behind him, Del Rio moved on to feuding with Randy Orton, with the two attacking each other on the [[September 28, 2012 Smackdown results|September 28 episode of SmackDown]]. The rivalry built to a singles match on October 28 at Hell in a Cell, where Orton emerged victorious.At TLC Alberto turned face when he saved Ricardo Rodriguez from 3MB and also team with The Miz and The Brooklyn Brawler to defeat 3MB.At Raw edition of the Alberto Del Rio and The Miz teamed for the second time this time with The ECW Legend Tommy Dreamer and defeated 3MB.On him and Ricardo entered a feud with Worlds Heavyweight Champion Big Show when Show was bullying Rodriguez,he face Big Show for the World Heavyweight Championship for the honor of his friend.Del Rio and Sheamus got the best of Big Show.On the 12/31/12 New Years Eve edition of RAW he saved Ricardo from Big Show and then he winked at him. Mixed martial arts After making his professional wrestling debut in 2000, Dos Caras, Jr. decided to try his hand at mixed martial arts (MMA). After training with MMA fighter and trainer Marco Ruas, Caras, Jr. made his debut for Japanese MMA organisation Deep using both his wrestling name and luchadore mask. In his first match he demonstrated his professional wrestling background by executing a Belly to belly suplex on opponent Kengo Watanabe, a move that broke Watanabe's arm to end the match. In Caras, Jr.'s second match he lost to Watanabe by submission in the second round. In 2003 Japanese MMA organization Pride Fighting Championships put out an open challenge for anyone to face their top star Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović in a match. Over 50 competitors stepped forward, including a couple of Japanese professional wrestlers, out of the group Dos Caras, Jr. was chosen since he had an MMA background and also a "name" due to his and his father's association with professional wrestling. Pride rules were amended to allow Dos Caras, Jr. to wear his signature mask in the match against Filipović. On October 5 Dos Caras, Jr. faced Cro Cop with his father, Dos Caras, and his cousin, Sicodelico, Jr. in his corner. The match lasted 46 seconds before Filipović hit Dos Caras, Jr. with one of his signature moves, the left high kick, and knocked him out. Following the quick loss, Dos Caras, Jr. has competed in eight further MMA matches, attaining six wins and only two defeats with seven overall wins coming via submission. In wrestling *'Finishing moves' **'As Dos Caras, Jr.' ***Military press dropped into a bridging German suplex **'As Alberto Del Rio' ***'Cross Arm Breaker' (Rolling cross armbar) *'Signature moves' **Bridging German suplex **Enzuigiri **Gutwrench suplex **Multiple crossbody variations ***Diving ***Reverse ***Running ***Slingshot, sometimes with corkscrew ***Springboard, sometimes from the second rope **Superkick *'Nicknames' **'"The Essence of Excellence"' *'Managers' **'Ricardo Rodriguez' **Brodus Clay *'Entrance music' **'"Realeza" by Jim Johnston (WWE) (2010-Present) ' Championships and accomplishments Amateur wrestling *'World Junior Championships' **Third place (1997) *'Central American and Caribbean Games' **First place (3 times) *'Pan American Games' **Placed (1 time) Professional wrestling *'Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre' **CMLL World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **Copa Jr. (2006) *'Pro Wrestling Illustrated' **PWI ranked him #'6' of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2011 *'World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE' **WWE World Heavyweight Championship (1 Time) **WWE Championship (2 times) **Money in the Bank (Raw 2011) **Royal Rumble (2011) *'Wrestling Observer Newsletter' **Best Gimmick (2010) Luchas de Apuestas record Mixed martial arts record See also *Dos Caras, Jr's event history External links and references *WWE Profile *Online World of Wrestling Profile * Debut in Japan - Gallery 1 / Gallery 2 *Dos Caras, Jr. profile at CAGEMATCH.net pl:Alberto_Del_Rio pt:Alberto Del Rio ro:Alberto_Rodríguez Category:Mexican wrestlers Category:Second Generation Wrestlers Category:Royal Rumble Winners Category:1977 births Category:Alianza Universal De Lucha Libre alumni Category:All Japan Pro Wrestling alumni Category:Asistencia Asesoría y Administración alumni Category:Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre alumni Category:Florida Championship Wrestling alumni Category:HUSTLE alumni Category:International Wrestling Revolution Group alumni Category:Pro Wrestling ZERO1 alumni Category:Toryumon Mexico alumni Category:World Wrestling Entertainment current roster Category:1991 debuts Category:Masked Wrestlers Category:WWE Champions